The Journey to Ghorrock
by Teh Nom Nomz
Summary: A short story I'm writing about my friends and I and our Runescape adventurers. Our main goal is to restore balance to Gielinor by helping Azzandra retrieve the Frostenhorn from the Temple of Ghorrock, to bring Zaros back.
1. The Beginning

Jordan looked at his timepiece with obvious annoyance. Azzandra had asked Jordan and his accomplices to meet in Edgeville at half past Rune; it was 15 minutes past. He paced the floor impatiently, using his staff as a walking stick; this was no less a challenge due to the pointed end. After another few lonely minutes, a bickering arose from the east. Jordan poked his head out of the bank and glanced over the river to see Caitlin and her friend Kyle approaching from a tunnel leading from the Grand Exchange.

When they arrived, Caitlin spoke first. "Sorry we're late… Kyle needed more bolts, and I needed more prayer potions. Things took _forever_ to sell… Anyways, what's a priestess without her prayers?"

Kyle interrupted at this time. "You, a priestess? To who? A God of your own design, named Fluffy or something? I _need _my bolts to fight, while you simply hide behind your insolent prayers and smack things around with a mace."

"That's Grand Lord Fluffy to _you_, mister. Besides, what's a journey without me?" Caitlin asked, nudging her friend and ex with her crimson mace.

Jordan cleared his throat pointedly and turned to Caitlin. "Where the hell is Chris? And didn't you say someone else was coming?" He checked his timepiece again, glancing at the sun to see if the time was accurate.

"Relax," said Caitlin. "They'll be here. And if not, they don't add much to the experience, anyways. They're not the best of fighters, but always fun to have around when things get tough or boring."

To his left, the three adventurer's heard a door creak open and a shrill voice call out. "Thanks for coming, Chris," it shouted. "Any friends of Davey's are friends of mine!"

The mage turned towards the other two and frowned in discontent. "Please," he asked, his voice low, "tell me that isn't the same Chris we're expecting."

Caitlin smirked, rummaging through her bag to make sure she had everything. "Knowing ol' Pinky, it probably is. He's into weird things; why should older women be excluded?"

Chris walked over, his dented armor clanking. He called back over his shoulder, "Thanks for the tea, Doris! Tell Dave we need to have more sleepers, and that we'll be back soon!"

Jordan eyed his staff/spear combo and wondered whether he could bring himself to spear himself through the skull. He instead took to slamming his head against the wall, beginning a short prayer for strength. "Guthixxxx," he breathed, "please, please give me strength. You know I'll need it."

Giggling at his exploits, Caitlin put her hand to her eyes and looked into the rising sun. "It's getting late," she murmured. "If he doesn't get here soon, we're going to have to leave without him. Azzandra doesn't like to be kept waiting, so we'll have to do this in as short a time as possible…"

"Caitlin," Jordan murmured. "We can't wait any longer. We have to go."

She let out a sigh and waved for Kyle to follow. The two walked to the Wilderness ditch, with Kyle loading his crossbow, murmuring curses under his helmet. Caitlin muttered quiet prayers to Fluffy or whatever it was she worshipped, and prepared to cross the ditch. Jordan called out to Chris, or "Pinky" as Caitlin called him, and the two joined the queue.

Just as they thought it was time to leave, they heard a swirling, mystical sound. The adventurers turned around to face the sound, only to find a man in fancy clothing, with a feather in his hat. He was waving a baguette at a woman in a pink dress. She giggled and waved, then quickly teleported away.

Caitlin sighed and walked forward. Intrigued, Jordan asked her who it was. "It's our final adventurer, of course. What did you expect?"

Jordan looked on with obvious disbelief. The man brushed off his red clothing, began munching on the baguette and turned to meet his friends. He offered Caitlin half, and when she declined, he threw it at a passing mugger. The baguette hit him in midswipe, and the guard caught the mugger going after his wallet.

"Tyson," Caitlin asked, "are you ready for this? We might never come back, for all we know." She looked at him eagerly, but all he did was quietly chew on his bread. "Tyson," she pleaded again, sounding exasperated. "We could be marching off to our inevitable deaths for a God I'm not even sure you believe in, and all you can do is eat?"

"I'm hungry," Tyson said, spraying crumbs on his suit and Caitlin's robes. "May as well enjoy the small things in life while we can. Now then, is everyone ready to travel?"

Jordan pulled down his goggles, adjusted his hat and smoothed his robes. Chris tightened his grip on his whip and shifted in his clanking armor. Caitlin nodded, tucking her mace into her belt. Kyle finished putting the bolts into the crossbow and adjusted his helmet.

Nodding in relief, Tyson checked his backpack. He deliberated for a moment, then took out a long green reptile and began trying to string it.

Jordan resumed slamming his head against the wall. Caitlin giggled, hopping across the ditch and into their oncoming demise.


	2. What the Jelly Saw

The five adventurers began their journey into the Wilderness with Jordan and Kyle leading the pack. Jordan sat on his war tortoise and watched the stars, making sure they were going in the right general direction. Kyle discussed battle tactics with his gray minotaur, who kept interrupting with ideas of his own. Tyson and his green cube of jelly hopped along after them, singing "Little Bunny Foo Foo." Only Chris and Caitlin lagged behind, dragging their feet with obvious tiredness and boredom.

Chris kept trying to strike up a conversation with Caitlin, but she dismissed this with a simple "Shut up Pinky," and began chattering with her squirrel. Not deterred by this, Chris summoned a chinchompa and began conversing with it. Jordan and Kyle sped up to try and block out the frantic squeaking and chattering. Tyson began making odd sucking noises to communicate with his jelly. The jelly looked confused, if a jelly can.

Chris stroked the chinchompa as they walked, discussing the finer arts of cooking. Caitlin simply discussed life in general, to which her squirrel always had an enigmatic response.

As the young man and his inflated, explosive chipmunk walked on, he heard a shrill squeak come from behind. The squirrel was running up and down Caitlin's leg, squeaking loudly and trying to get a response from her master. Chris looked back with mild annoyance, though this soon turned to vague fear.

Caitlin was floating four inches off the ground, and her eyes had turned a crimson shade of red. Her pupils were dilated and flickering back and forth. Her mouth was slightly ajar, a thin strand of drool protruding from her lips. Her head fell limp to the side as her body continued to rise, now a foot off the ground. Caitlin let out a shrill shriek, then her voice became one not of her own.

Her head turned to face Chris, who found he couldn't turn his eyes away anymore. The voice was ancient and powerful, that of a woman. "_I have returned to exact my revenge, mortals_," Caitlin said. "_You tried to stop me in one of your earlier adventures, escaping my plot to destroy your little dream team. However, my curse shall lay dominant throughout this little tirade, and you shall feel my wrath like never before. Fear the power within, for it shall be your untimely downfall. What Iban is to Zamorak, so shall this vessel become mine. Be careful where you leave your trust, for it shall make or break you…_"

With this, Caitlin fell to the ground and convulsed, her breathing ragged. His trance broken, Chris ran forward and helped her up. Upon hearing the screams, the others ran up and questioned him as to what happened. Caitlin brushed herself off and stood up, rubbing her head at the oncoming headache. Chris blinked in confusion, trying to remember what had happened. All he could remember was the voice's parting words, "_Be careful where you leave your trust,_" it has said. Chris decided not to mention this to the others.

Nyxy the squirrel cautiously climbed back onto Caitlin's shoulders. She offered it a small smile and patted it on the head. Caitlin and Chris stayed with the rest for the rest of the journey. Kyle pointed out a city to the north, and they made their way there.

The jelly hopped over to Caitlin as they walked. She stopped and looked down at it, wondering why it had left its temporary master. The jelly faced her for a moment, if a jelly can face anything, and shivered. Caitlin looked down in confusion as the jelly hopped away.


	3. Camp

The five adventurers approached the small camp with wariness. While it seemed like an established community, things tended to go wrong a bit too often in the Wilderness. The guards at the city's gates seemed to think this too, as they withdrew their swords from their belts and held their ground as they approached.

Sensing a coming battle, the five of them gripped their weapons, and continued cautiously. Jordan, Kyle and Caitlin quickly mumbled an argument amongst themselves, after which Caitlin and Kyle stared at the mage. Jordan sighed and stepped forward.

"Hello," he called. "Don't suppose it's possible for us to… I dunno… stay the night with you? It's getting darker and everything, so it'd be really appreciated…"

They all turned and looked at the guards. The muttered angrily amongst each other for awhile, with the adventurers hearing a few of the words: "Heather," "dangerous" and "risk." Jordan looked at Caitlin again, who looked at Kyle; both shook their heads. Sighing, Jordan stepped forward again.

"We don't mean you any harm… Besides, it's just one night, so what could we really…" There was a quick flash and Jordan stopped talking, his breathing slowed and his body barely twitched. He slowly reached up and pulled a blue dart from his neck, wobbling as he turned to face his attacker.

From the west came a ghostly ork, with quivering shackles on its left arm and a thin strand of drool trailing down its lip. It raised its arm over its head and hurled a blast of Magic at Jordan, who limped towards the group as efficiently as possible.

Eyeing the oncoming enemy, the team all unsheathed their weapons. Jordan prodded its eye with his sharpened staff, laying semi-protection on himself for a little while soon after. Kyle fired off several shots from his crossbow, landing several where the revenant's heart should have been. His minotaur took charge and hurled Tyson's jelly at the revenant's incoming attack, destroying both the jelly and the spell. The jelly slowly reformed, inching its way back to Tyson; Tyson gave up on stringing his salamanders and hurled it at the ghost.

Jordan looked at Caitlin, who finally nodded. Mumbling prayers to her God, she began cursing and stunning the ork in every way she knew. Jordan began chanting a spell to combat the ghost as Kyle and the minotaur led the charge. The steel beast knocked the revenant back, catching it off guard. Chris whipped it from behind, causing it to whirl around. As it fired another dart at Chris, Jordan launched his wind surge and the revenant disappeared into the breeze. The guards cautiously walked forward, with a woman following.

The woman waved them into the camp, saying nothing but "The Council would like a word with you." The five adventurers walked into the camp, (or in the jelly's case, hopped,) and into the unknown.


	4. Acceptance

The five adventurers cautiously entered the camp, eyeing the bandits with unease. Several had drawn their daggers already, while others merely glared at the newcomers. As they were led deeper into the camp, each warrior had worries of their own; mostly about whether this was a trap or not.

The leaders ushered them into a small cabin lit only by a dim candle stub. The table's wood was warped and the chairs had splinters jutting out at awkward angles. The beds lining room was basically empty except for these things; they were bandits, after all, not nobles.

The woman sat in the most comfortable chair, (meaning splinterless,) and two men sat at either side of her. She cleared her throat and indicated that the adventurers should sit. Looking around, the only thing the group saw was tile. They all pulled up a seat and looked up at the village leaders anxiously, awaiting their decision.

Kyle's minotaur guarded the door, eyeing the windows for signs of movement. Tyson's jelly hopped around the room, sniffing everything it could. (If jellies can sniff, anyways.) The four heroes and Tyson looked up at the council; their decision would decide their safety.

The woman cleared her throat a second time, then lifted her eyes from the table; the decision had been made with few words passed between the Council. The woman introduced herself as Dark Heather, addressing the adventures in a stiff monotone.

"We have decided," she stated, "that you may stay the night here in thanks for killing one of those dreadful ghosts that continuously wander about, regardless of who they attack." She stood up and headed for the door.

"Please keep your pets in check," she added. Kyle's minotaur huffed, but otherwise remained silent. "Food and drink will be provided for you in an hour, then you are to be off in the morning. Any questions?"

Caitlin piped up now, deciding to ask the question that had been nagging at the whole group; "Will we be…erm…safe here tonight?" It was an innocent question, but it seemed to draw a nerve with Heather.

"No harm shall come to you while in our camp," she said, voice rising. "So long as you follow our rules, and another revenant doesn't come, all will be fine." At this, she headed out the door. At the snap of her fingers, the other two men left in silence.

* * *

The group unrolled the sleeping bags that had been provided for them. While their dinner hadn't been particularly delicious, and Kyle complained about the food tasting poisonous, the heroes (and Tyson) had eaten well and were ready for bed after a long day's journey.

Caitlin moved to a corner of the small shack, spreading out her bedding away from the smells of men. She cast a daring, frightening look at her companions and layed down, pulling a sleep mask over her eyes. Chris made a joke about her not wanting to sleep with them because of such a silly reason as bad smells. As he approached Caitlin, she let out a loud, rumbling fart that caused the snoring jelly to shake.

Chris backed away, laying his head down on his chinchompa and falling asleep. The adventurers slept uncomfortably; of the few that did dream, there were many nightmares, and a small gasp was heard in the night before the room became quiet.

* * *

Caitlin awoke with a smile on her lips, and quickly awoke the others. Jordan rolled over and got up a minute later, with a low grumbling. Chris stretched and hopped up, ready to leave the camp and their gracious guests. Tyson took the longest to wake; apparently, he slept with his eyes open, so it took awhile for people to notice he was snoring.

Kyle refused to get up; he lay there in cold silence, ignoring his party as they tried to rouse him. In a last desperate attempt to wake him, Chris and Tyson slipped some of the jelly's ooze onto his hand and began tickling his face with the end of Chris's whip.

When this had no effect, Caitlin sighed and walked over to him. She said, in a low voice, "Kyle?" When nothing happened, she let loose a powerful kick that caused him to roll over. Kyle remained in this position, his arm bent at an odd angle.

The room grew silent, and Jordan asked, "…Kyle?" They all slowly advanced on him. His skin was stone cold, and he had mild foam at the lips. His eyes were glazed over and he had no pulse. Caitlin stared into his blank eyes for a moment, then slowly slid the lids closed. "He's dead," she whispered.

That was when the real silence sunk in. The minotaur's rugged breathing had stopped; he was gone. Chris pulled a blanket over Kyle's face and led the way out. They were going to confront their wonderful hosts.


End file.
